The PENULTIMATE Soccer Environment

 

For those that do not know what Penultimate is, allow me to enlighten you. It is the word for the second to last in a series. While this is not the second to last post, a public-school soccer program is the second worst environment, according to my experience. There are a few reasons for this, as my rankings are based off the atmosphere, schedule, coaches, teammates, training, sessions, facilities, and the level of competition.

Let’s hop into it. I’ll start with an evaluation of the atmosphere of public high-school soccer. There is an interesting mix between casual and competitive players. Some guys are there to have fun and fill their time, while others are there fighting for a chance to play college soccer. It created an interesting dynamic at practice, as some guys would take training more seriously than others. This led to certain groups being formed between the players. There was typically a divide between casual players and the competitive players, as many players looking to excel did not want to associate with the others all that much. It led to a hierarchical structure, with the better players taking the top spots.

What is nice about public school soccer is that it was cheap. The school did not cost anything, and there was no big fee for playing. Additionally, the player did not have to pay for their uniforms. They were given to the players at the beginning of the season and returned to the school once it ended.

The schedule was good. There was training every day, excluding weekends. Speaking of weekends, however, there were games on Saturdays, which was not a negative aspect since it filled time. The schedule of games was typically pretty good as well, as they were generally spaced apart well enough for rest and training but were close enough to maintain match standards. What is unfortunate, however, is that it is only the fall season. I would have liked to play high school soccer year-round, but it ends to give athletes the chance to play other sports.

The coaches were good. They were pretty casual compared to some other teams I played on, but they were still knowledgeable and wanted to win. There were some instances of ‘coach’s son’ treatment, but it wasn’t terrible my senior year. They did tend to play favorites, though, which is a negative. There were more skilled players that did not play as much as some players who were closer to the coach.

The training sessions were alright. The casual/competitive dynamic made it a little difficult to maintain focus and intensity levels. Junior Varsity and Varsity were integrated for some sessions, which hindered development for the better players as they were forced to play against a lower level.

There was a good game field available for matches, but the training facility was abysmal. The field was often hard dirt, with little to no grass covering it. It was also uneven, making the bounces unpredictable. There was a good gym available though.

The level of competition was good in some games, but not close in others. There were a few games where we utilized the mercy rule, embarrassing our opponents, and yet others went to overtime. The end-of-season tournament was good competition however, as the games often went to penalty kicks.

All in all, public-school soccer was a relatively positive experience. It was difficult to maintain focus at times, as some of the players were unserious about their development. It was a better experience than club soccer, but there are better options, which I will discuss in future posts.